Chapter One- New Faces and the Hogwarts Express

Savannah Talbot yawned, stretching her arms above her head. Rolling over, she glanced at the clock on her nightstand. It was seven.

Clambering out of bed, she glanced at the calendar and then quickly did a double take. Today was September 1st! She was going to Hogwarts!

Hurriedly she stepped into a skirt and blouse, shrugging stockings on as she made it to the landing of the staircase. Squealing, she rushed down.

At the kitchen table was her father, eyes scanning the newspaper, and her brother sat wolfing down sausages and eggs. Rolling her eyes at him, she ran up to her mother who was at the stove and hugged her from behind.

"Mum! Morning! Do you know what today is?" She couldn't keep the smile out of her voice as her mum turned around and hugged her back.

"Hmm. Let me think, Tuesday?" her mother asked jokingly. "Oh, right! It's your first day at Hogwarts." She grinned down at her and ran a hand through her daughters' still slightly messy brown hair.

Savannah nodded, an impish grin stretching onto her face. "I'm so excited!" she squealed.

Her father looked up from his paper, a broad grin on his face. "My little Savannah, growing up already. Ten, I can't believe it!"

Her brother rolled his eyes. "Right, and I'm not grown up at sixteen."

Savannah poked his shoulder. "Ryder you couldn't act grown up if you tried!"

Ashley, her youngest sibling at age seven, poked her head around the corner giggling. Ryder stood up after taking his last bite of sausage, and crept up to her. Reaching down, he grabbed her around the waist and tickled her.

Her little squeals filled the kitchen and the family looked on in amusement.

"Ry-Ryder! Sto-stop it! Put me do-down!" She screeched in between giggles.

Ryder laughed, tipping her upside down and slowly swooping her down. At the last second he turned her right side up and she playfully smacked his arm.

"Meanie."

Savannah laughed at the scene and Ashley meandered over to her. She wrapped her small frame in her arms and tucked her close.

Ashley tugged on her sleeve and whispered in Savannah's ear. "I'm going to miss you."

Savannah smiled softly. "I'm going to miss you too, Ash. But you'll be fine and besides, Ryder needs someone to look after him!"

Ryder rolled his eyes from the hallway on his way to the bathroom. Her father chuckled and her mother hid a laugh behind a slice of toast.

"Right then, we'd best get moving dears. Look at the time!" her mother said.

Nodding, Savannah took her brother's vacant seat. Reaching for a slice of toast, she asked, "What platform is it again?"

Her brother answered from the bathroom with his mouth full of toothpaste. "Fife anf free forters."

"Sorry, didn't quite catch that.."

Snorting, her father translated, " Platform 9 3/4."

"Umm...excuse me?"

Ryder shook his head. "You heard me. Run into that brick wall."

Savannah turned to her parents for support in proving he was crazy, but they just smiled at her. "See? I was serious," Ryder said as they stepped onto Plarform Nine and Three Quarters.

Suddenly a voice called out from behind them. "Actually, I'm Sirius."

A boy who looked to be Savannah's age approached them, a wide smirk on his face. He had long curly black hair with grey eyes. Spotting Savannah, he said, "allow me to properly introduce myself. The name's Black, Sirius Black."

Her brother rolled his eyes, but Savannah eagerly shook his hand. She was excited to maybe have a friend for the first day.

"Hello Sirius. I'm Savannah Talbot and this is my brother Ryder."

He smiled at them both, throwing a wink her way. She felt her cheeks redden and rolled her eyes. Her mum had been right-boys were ridiculous sometimes.

Just then, something bumped into the back of Savannah, causing her to fall forward, almost into Sirius. Catching her balance, she pivoted to see what happened, and found a stout boy with mousy hair on the ground.

Sirius momentarily forgotten, she bent down to help the boy. "Here, are you all right?" she asked as she helped him to his feet.

The boy gulped and looked down at his feet, nodding ever so slightly. "Y-yeah. Sorry about k-knocking you over," he stuttered to the ground.

Savannah smiled kindly at him, but he missed it with his eyes trained on the ground. "No problem, no harm done!" He chanced a glance up at her cheerful tone and smiled sheepishly.

"So, what's your name then? I'm Savannah, this is Sirius, and...my brother Ryder ditched me. Well, that was thoughtful of him."

Sirius chuckled at her sarcasm and earned himself a smile. The newcomer, however, seemed to be fidgeting and nervously spoke. "P-Peter Pettigrew."

She smiled down at him, as she was a few good inches taller than him. "Well Peter, let's go then, shall we?"

He stared at her in almost disbelief, before shrugging and following the brunette and the curly-haired boy. Grumbling to himself, he followed behind them, lugging his trunk. Why had he packed so much?

The trio clambered onto the train, and upon reaching the end, found an empty compartment. Sitting down beside Sirius, Savannah smiled.

"We're going to Hogwarts!"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Really Savannah, I had no idea!"

Peter hesitantly chortled. "Yeah, I bought a wand and uniform for a walk to the park."

Sirius high-fived him snickering. Savannah rolled her eyes but couldn't resist a giggle. "Oh shut it you two," she mock-scolded.

At that, the compartment door slid open slightly. Two heads peered in.

"Er, hello, I'm sorry, but may we join-"

The other boy was cut off by his companion as he strolled into the compartment as if he owned it, and sprawling out on the empty space beside Peter.

"Name's Potter. James Potter." The boy smirked at each of us, running a hand through his messy black hair. Savannah rolled her eyes; he reminded her of Sirius already.

Said Black must have thought along the same lines because he jumped up, shaking Potter's hand eagerly. "I'm Sirius, Sirius Black."

While the two talked to Peter, Savannah turned to the sandy-haired boy in the doorway. "Hello, want to come in?" she asked politely.

He smiled shyly at her and nodded. Taking a seat across from her he said, "hello. I'm Remus Lupin."

Savannah smiled at him and introduced herself. As time wore on, the other three added them to the conversation and they talked about the Hogwarts houses and what they expected the teachers would be like. Then of course, came the inevitable topic; quidditch.

James puffed his chest proudly. "I'm going to be Quidditch Captain by my fifth year!" Sirius huffed and then laughed as Savannah poked James in the chest and he deflated.

"I'm going to be!" Sirius shouted.

As the two got caught in a shouting match, Savannah turned to Remus and rolled her eyes. He smiled at her and said, "they're like brothers already."

She nodded her head in agreement, as well as Peter. She went to say something, but was interrupted by the trolley.

"Hello dears, can I interest you in any snacks?"

An hour later found Peter snoring into a Pumpkin Pasty, James and Sirius asleep amidst a rather impressive pile of chocolate frog wrappers. Remus was reading and Savannah took the peace as an opportunity to slide out a book of her own.

Carefully thumbing the pages she started rereading Hogwarts: A History for the umpteenth time. Smiling, she felt the train fall away and was surrounded in her favorite world of inky black and parchment white. No matter what lay ahead at Hogwarts, she took comfort in knowing she could simply escape it all in a book.

A/N: Hello, new story! Sorry if Savannah seems a bit Mary-Sue here, i promise she isn;t, not at all...(That's a major hint for the story plot!)

Please review! :)

-Alyssa xx